Game presentation in a retail establishment

ABSTRACT

A game presentation such as a virtual slot machine is displayed by a display device associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal. The game presentation includes images of products for which product identifying codes are entered at the POS terminal. The game presentation indicates to a customer an outcome of a random process pursuant to which the customer may be awarded a benefit such as a free product, a discount on a product selected for purchase, a coupon or an upsell offer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to provisional patentapplication Serial No. 60/210,094, filed Jun. 7, 2000. The disclosure ofthis provisional patent application is incorporated herein by reference.

The following patent applications include subject matter that is relatedto the present application: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/538,773,filed Mar. 20, 2000, entitled “Entertainment Layer Overlaid on OnlineTransactions”; provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/204,673, filedMay 17, 2000, which issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,443,843 B1 on Sep. 3,2002; provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/206,965, filed May 25,2000, currently pending as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/679,186;and provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/183,391, filed Feb. 18,2000, currently pending as U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/604,898.The disclosures of these applications are incorporated herein byreference.

FIELD

This invention relates to information systems for retail stores.

BACKGROUND

Shopping can be a tedious chore, particularly when one is purchasingroutine products such as groceries. Among the most tedious aspects ofshopping are waiting in line at the checkout counter, and standing atthe counter while one's purchases are rung up.

Delays in checkout may become so frustrating to shoppers in some casesthat they abandon their purchases and walk out of the store withoutbuying. This causes loss of revenue to the store.

Certain in-store promotional and advertising systems have been proposedto provide content or information to customers at the point of sale, asin U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,175 (System and Method for Offering TargetedDiscounts to Customers), U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,211 (Method and Apparatusfor Promoting Products and Influencing Consumer Purchasing Decisions atthe Point-of-Purchase) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,066 (In-Store AdvertisingSystem). However, such systems generally do little to relieve boredomassociated with delays in checkout and have not been widely adopted.

More widespread programs known as “Checkout Coupon” and “CheckoutDirect” are sponsored by Catalina Marketing, Inc. of St. Petersburg,Fla. These systems deliver coupons or other incentives to the point ofsale and may be targeted to the individual customer. The same companyalso sponsors an in-store instant-win game to give customers incentivesto shop at stores for which the game is made available. Again, theseprograms provide little to relieve boredom.

It would be beneficial both to customers and to retail establishments ifthe shopping experience, and particularly the process of checking outpurchases, could be made more entertaining for the customer. A storethat is able to make the shopping experience more entertaining may gaina competitive advantage and draw customers away from other stores.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the invention, a method of handling atransaction at a point of sale (POS) terminal includes entering aplurality of product identifiers, each corresponding to a respectiveproduct selected for purchase by a customer, and generating a randomoutcome to determine if the customer wins one of the selected products,the random outcome also determining which one of the plurality of theselected products is won. A result of the generating step may bepresented to the customer via an entertainment interface, such as adisplay screen depicting a slot machine.

According to another aspect of the invention, a method of handling atransaction at a POS terminal includes entering a product identifierthat corresponds to a product selected for purchase, and, responsive toentry of the product identifier, displaying an image that represents thecorresponding product.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a method of handlinga transaction at a POS terminal includes entering into the POS terminaldata for identifying a customer, and generating a random outcome todetermine whether a benefit is provided to the customer, wherein therandom outcome depends in part on a purchasing history of the customer.The benefit to be provided to the customer may be a coupon, an upselloffer, a free product or a discount offer.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of handling atransaction at a POS terminal includes entering into the POS terminaldata for identifying a customer, and generating a random outcome todetermine whether a benefit is provided to the customer, where therandom outcome depends in part on an outcome that was previouslyprovided to the customer.

According to still a further aspect of the invention, a method ofentertaining a customer at a shelf in a retail store includes enteringinto a terminal at the shelf a product identifier that corresponds to aproduct selected for purchase by the customer, and, responsive to entryof the product identifier, displaying to the customer an image thatrepresents the corresponding product.

According to still another aspect of the invention, a method ofentertaining a customer at a shelf in a retail store includes enteringinto a terminal at the shelf at least one product identifier thatcorresponds to a respective product selected for purchase, andgenerating a random outcome to determine whether the customer wins aproduct that corresponds to the at least one product identifier.

By practicing the present invention, retailers are able to make theshopping experience more entertaining and interesting to customers,thereby attracting customers to their stores.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of a system provided inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of a central controller that isa component of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram representation of a typical point of saleterminal that is a component of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a tabular representation of a product database that is storedin the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a tabular representation of a coupon database that is storedin the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a tabular representation of an upsell database that is storedin the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a tabular representation of a customer database that is storedin the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 8 is a tabular representation of a likelihood of occurrencedatabase that is stored in the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 9 is a tabular representation of a presentation database that isstored in the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 shows a typical entry in a transaction database that is storedin the central controller of FIG. 2;

FIG. 11 is a flow chart that illustrates a process carried out in thesystem of FIG. 1 according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 12 shows a screen display provided by the system of FIG. 1 inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart that illustrates a process carried out in thesystem of FIG. 1 according to another aspect of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following definitions shall apply in this specification and in theappended claims:

benefit: includes one or more of a free product, a discount offer, anupsell, a coupon, and a cash prize.

customer identifier: a code that uniquely identifies a customer.

image: a pictorial representation of a physical entity.

indicia: an image or other symbol portrayed as a constituent of avirtual slot machine reel.

product: a good and/or service.

product identifier: a code that uniquely identifies a product.

random outcome: a result of a random or psuedo-random process undertakento determine whether a benefit will be awarded to an individual.

retail price: a price that a product costs in the absence of anypromotion or discount.

shelf: any structure or location, separate from a point-of-saleterminal, for displaying products for purchase.

symbol: includes one or more of an image, a logo, and a string ofalphanumeric characters.

upsell: a proposal to a customer that he or she add an additionalproduct or a replacement product to a transaction.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a system 100 in which thepresent invention may be applied. The system 100 includes a centralcontroller 102 and a plurality of point of sale (POS) terminals 104connected for data communication with the central controller 102. ThePOS terminals are installed at a retail store (not separately shown) andthe central controller may, but need not, also be installed at theretail store. Although three POS terminals are shown in the drawing, itshould be understood that the number of POS terminals in the system maybe greater than or less than three.

The system may also include a plurality of terminals 106 installed atshelves in the retail store. Because the shelf terminals are notrequired for some aspects of the invention, the terminals 106 are shownin phantom in the drawing. If present, the shelf terminals 106 areconnected for data communication with the central controller 102.

Details of the central controller 102 are shown in block diagram form inFIG. 2. The hardware components of the controller 102 may be constitutedby conventional computer hardware, such as a mini computer or a servercomputer of the type employed to manage a system of POS terminals. Thecontroller 102 includes a processor or microchip 202 that is incommunication with or otherwise uses or includes one or morecommunication ports 204. The communication port 204 is of a type toenable the controller 102 to engage in data communication with the POSterminals 104 and the shelf terminals 106, if present. The datacommunication between the central controller and the terminals may becarried out by conventional data networking facilities such as anEthernet local area network, a token ring type local area network or awireless communication facility.

The controller 102 also includes an internal clock element 206 whichcontrols the timing of operations performed by the processor 202. Alsoconnected to the processor 202 are read only memory (ROM) 208 and randomaccess memory (RAM) 210, which respectively provide fixed and workingdata storage for the processor 202. Also operatively connected to theprocessor 202 may be one or more input/output devices 212. Such devicesmay include a printer and an operator terminal with a display, keyboardand mouse.

Also included in the controller 102 is a mass storage device 214 whichstores information, software, programs, databases, etc. The storagedevice 214 preferably comprises an appropriate combination of magnetic,optical and/or semi-conductor memory, and may be constituted by one ormore hard disks. The processor 202 and the storage device 214 may eachbe, for example: (i) located entirely within a single computer or othercomputing device; or (ii) connected to each other by a remotecommunication medium, such as a serial port cable, telephone line orradio frequency transceiver.

The software and other information stored on the storage device 214preferably includes some or all of the following: a control program 216for operating the controller 102; a product database 218 for storinginformation about products sold by the retail store served by thecontroller 102; a coupon database 220 for storing information aboutcoupon offers that may be made through the system 100; a customerdatabase 224 for storing information about one or more customers; anoutcome database 226 for storing information to be used in determiningrandom outcomes in accordance with the invention; a presentationdatabase 228 for storing information, graphics, etc. for interfaces thatmay be presented by the system in connection with random outcomes; atransaction database 230 for storing information related to transactionshandled by the system 100; and an upsell database 232 for storinginformation concerning upsells that may be offered to customers throughthe system 100.

Each of the databases 218, 220, 224, 226, 228, 230 and 232 and their useand potential data structure will be discussed in more detail below. Aswill be understood by those skilled in the art, the schematicillustrations and accompanying descriptions of the databases presentedherein are exemplary arrangements for stored representations ofinformation. A number of other arrangements may be employed besidesthose suggested by the tables shown. Similarly, the illustrated entriesof the databases represent exemplary information only. Thus, thoseskilled in the art will understand that the number and content of theentries can be different from those illustrated herein. Not all of thedatabases 218, 220, 224, 226, 228, 230 and 232 will be used or needed inevery embodiment of the system 100.

The control program 216 controls the processor 202. The processor 202preferably performs instructions of the control program 216, and therebyoperates in accordance with the present invention, and particularly inaccordance with the methods described in detail herein. The controlprogram 216 may be stored in a compressed, uncompiled and/or encryptedformat. The control program 216 furthermore includes program elementsthat may be necessary such as an operating system, a database managementsystem and device drivers for allowing the processor 202 to interfacewith peripheral devices, databases, etc. Appropriate program elementsare known to those skilled in the art, and need not be described indetail herein. According to an embodiment of the present invention, theinstructions of the program 216 may be read into a main memory fromanother computer-readable medium, such as the storage device 214.Execution of sequences of the instructions in the program 216 causes theprocessor 202 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative embodiments, hard wired circuitry may be used in place of,or in combination with, software instructions for implementation of someor all of the methods of the present invention. Thus, embodiments of thepresent invention are not limited to any specific combination ofhardware and software.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a typical one of the POSterminals 104. As seen from FIG. 3, each POS terminal 104 may beimplemented with a conventional microprocessor-based architecture,including conventional components such as a processor 302, a clockelement 304, ROM 306, RAM 308, a communications port 310 andinput/output devices 312. Stored in one or both of the ROM 306 and theRAM 308 or in another storage device is a program 314 for controllingoperation of the processor 302.

The POS terminals 104 may generally be constituted by conventionalhardware arrangements for such devices, except that, for certainembodiments of the invention, it is desirable that the POS terminals 104include a suitable display, such as a CRT or other display devicecapable of displaying computer generated images, graphics, photographicimages or the like. Each POS terminal 104 may include two or moredisplays, including one facing the POS terminal operator and anotherfacing the customer. It is preferred that the display facing thecustomer be capable of displaying images. In other respects theinput/output devices 312 may be conventional, including, for example, abar code scanner, an operator keypad, a magnetic stripe card reader suchas a card authorization terminal, and a receipt printer.

FIG. 4 shows a table 400 that is a representation of the productdatabase 218. The table 400 includes a column 402 for storing productidentifier codes, a column 404 for storing names of the respectiveproducts, a column 406 for storing prices of the respective products,and a column 408 for storing data representative of images of therespective products. Instead of storing the image data itself in column408, the column 408 may store pointers to locations in a separate imagedatabase, which is not shown.

Although not represented by columns in the drawing, additional datafields that may be supported by the product database may include dataindicative of the manufacturers of the respective products, quantity ofinventory on hand, and expiration dates for respective portions of theinventory.

Although only four entries are shown in the table of 400, it iscontemplated that in practical embodiments of the invention a largenumber of entries, corresponding to all of the products carried by aretail store, may be stored in the product database.

FIG. 5 shows a table 500 that represents an example of the coupondatabase 220 (FIG. 2). The table 500 has a column 502 for storing codesthat identify coupons, a column 504 for storing a message to bedisplayed on the POS terminal in regard to respective coupons when therespective coupon is to be awarded as a benefit to the customer, acolumn 506 which stores either an image for indicating the respectivecoupon, or a pointer to a separate image database in which the couponimage is stored, and a column 508 for storing coupon rules. The couponrules indicate under what circumstances the respective coupons may beprovided as a benefit to the customer. Such a rule may provide, forexample, that an award of a certain coupon may be awarded if a productcorresponding to the coupon was purchased in a previous transaction butnot in the current transaction. Another such rule may provide that acertain coupon may be awarded if the customer has shopped at the storeon at least three prior occasions.

Entries for three coupons are shown in table 500 but the number ofentries could be larger or smaller.

FIG. 6 shows a table 600 that illustrates the upsell database 232.

In table 600 column 602 lists identifying codes that indicate therespective upsell offers. Column 604 lists, for each respective upselloffer, a message to be provided to the customer to state the terms ofthe upsell offer. Column 606 in table 600 contains an image (or apointer to an image) with regard to each respective upsell offer. Therespective images are used to present an outcome awarding an upselloffer to a customer. The presentation may take the form of theabove-mentioned virtual slot machine. Column 608 in table 600 listsrespective rules that govern whether the upsell offers are permissibleoutcomes of a random process for determining whether a benefit is to beawarded to the customer.

FIG. 7 shows a table 700 that represents an example of the customerdatabase 224. Table 700 includes a column 702 that stores customeridentifiers, and columns 704 and 706 for respectively listing customernames and addresses. Also included in table 700 is a group of columns708 for storing transaction identifiers that identify transactionsengaged in by the respective customers. Under the heading of thetransaction identifiers 708 are columns 710, 712 and 714 thatrespectively correspond to a first transaction entered into by arespective customer, a second transaction (if any) and a thirdtransaction (if any). Although only three columns for transactions areshown in the drawing, it is contemplated to store a considerably largernumber of transactions for each customer. The purpose of the customerdatabase is to provide a key, linking transaction identifiers tocustomer identifiers, so that customers' purchasing histories can beassembled by reference to the transaction database which is describedbelow.

FIG. 8 shows a table 800 that illustrates the outcome database 226.Table 800 includes a column 802 that lists types of outcomes that may bepresented to the customer as the result of a random process. The typesof outcomes include upsell offers, coupons, free products (i.e. thecustomer is not required to pay for a product that the customer hasselected for purchase), discounts on products selected by the customer,or no prize (i.e. no benefit provided to the customer as the result of arandom outcome).

Also included in table 800 is a column 804 that lists the likelihood orprobability of occurrence of each type of outcome listed in column 802.

It should be noted that other types of benefits may be presented to thecustomer as a result of a random outcome in addition to the benefitslisted in column 802. Examples of other benefits that may be awardedinclude cash prizes, the designation of all products selected forpurchase to be free of charge, or a product that the customer has notselected for purchase. If a product not selected for purchase is to beawarded, the system may select the product to be awarded by taking intoaccount the products selected for purchase by the customer, thecustomer's purchasing history, or the transaction total. A benefit to beawarded to a customer could include a discount on a productsubscription. A product subscription is an arrangement whereby thecustomer receives a discount in exchange for agreeing in advance topurchase a quantity of a product to be delivered in installments overtime. Arrangements for product subscriptions are disclosed in commonlyassigned U.S. U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,470, which is entitled, “System andMethod for Establishing and Managing Subscription Purchase AgreementsIncluding Commitments to Purchase Goods Over Time At Agreed UponPrices.”

According to another aspect of benefits that may be awarded, the systemmay select for awarding free of charge one of the products selected forpurchase by the customer, or the system may select several such productsand allow the customer to pick one of the products selected by thesystem to be awarded free of charge.

Moreover, one or more of the types of benefits listed in column 802 maybe omitted. Also, the probabilities of occurrence listed in column 804may be changed. Among other possibilities, the likelihood of occurrenceof a given outcome may vary with certain circumstances. For example, inone embodiment the table shown in FIG. 8 may be used only for relativelylarge orders; a different table, with lower likelihoods of free productawards or discounts, may be used with smaller orders. More than twodifferent outcome tables may be used, with the table to be useddepending on circumstances such as size of order, make up of order,customer identity, customer purchasing history, time of day, day of theweek, number of coupons available, number of upsells available, etc.

As will be discussed further below, once a particular type of outcomehas been determined, a particular outcome of that type may be selected.For example, when it is determined that the customer is to be awardedfree of charge one of the products selected for purchase, the systemthen selects a particular one of the products to be awarded. As otherexamples, when an upsell or a coupon is to be awarded, then a particularupsell or coupon may be selected. As to a particular offer such as acoupon or an upsell, the likelihood that the offer will be selected ifthat type of offer is to be awarded may depend on factors such as therelative amounts that respective sponsors are willing to pay to theretail establishment.

It is also contemplated that determining the type of outcome maydetermine the outcome itself. For example, in one embodiment, if thetype of outcome is determined to be an upsell, there may only be oneupsell to be offered. That is, only one outcome is included in the setof outcomes to which the type of outcome corresponds. As anotherexample, if the transaction consists of only one product selected forpurchase, then determining that the type of outcome is awarding apurchased product for free means that the sole selected product isawarded free of charge.

FIG. 9 shows a table 900 that illustrates the presentation database 228.In table 900, column 902 lists outcomes that may be produced by a randomprocess. Column 904 indicates how the respective outcomes are to bepresented via a virtual slot machine interface that is displayed to thecustomer via a POS terminal 104.

In the virtual slot machine interface three virtual slot reels arepresented, and on each reel a number of indicia represented on the “rim”of the reel. These indicia may include a variety of symbols includingimages of products that may be won or coupons that may be awarded, andsymbols representing upsells that may be awarded. The three reels“spin”, as represented by rapid movement of the symbols in an upward ordownward direction, until the time an outcome is determined. In general,consistent with the “slot machine” metaphor, a favorable outcome isindicated by three identical symbols or indicia that are horizontallyaligned with each other at a “pay line”. As is well known, the “payline” of a slot machine is a horizontal line that indicates which slotmachine reel indicia are to be associated with the outcome of a playcycle of a slot machine. The symbol or indicia may be an image thatrepresents some aspect of the benefit to be awarded, such as an imagethat represents a product to be awarded free of charge, or a product tobe discounted or for which a coupon will be provided.

FIG. 10 illustrates a typical entry 1000 stored in the transactiondatabase 230. The entry 1000 includes a field 1002 that contains aunique identifying code for the transaction in question, a field 1004that contains the customer identifier (preferably from the customerdatabase) for the customer involved in the transaction, a field 1006that contains a code for identifying the POS terminal that handled thetransaction, a field 1008 that contains the date of the transaction, afield 1010 that contains a code to identify the POS terminal operatorwho handled the transaction, a field 1012 that indicates the time atwhich the transaction occurred, a field 1014 that contains the totalprice for the transaction before sales tax (subtotal), a field 1016 thatcontains the total price for the transaction including sales tax, afield 1018 that contains product identifying codes for the productspurchased in the transaction, a field 1020 that records the outcome of arandom process applied in connection with the transaction, and a field1022 that indicates the effect of the outcome on the total transactionprice. In the particular example indicated in FIG. 10, fields 1020 and1022 indicate that the random outcome was that a certain upsell offerwas made to the customer and that the customer accepted the offer, as aresult of which the total transaction price was rounded up from $5.03 to$6.00. It may be assumed that the product offered as part of the upsellhad a retail price of more than $0.97. For example, the product offeredas part of the upsell offer may have been a magazine that is stockedadjacent to the POS terminal.

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart 1100 that illustrates a process carried outin accordance with the invention. According to a first step 1102 in theprocess 1100, a customer selects one or more products to purchase. Thismay occur, for example, by the customer removing the products fromshelves in the store and placing the products in a shopping cart. Then,at step 1104, the customer goes to a POS terminal, bringing along theproducts that have been selected for purchase. The POS terminal mayeither be attended by a POS terminal operator who is an employee of thestore, or the POS terminal may be a self-checkout terminal that is to beoperated by the customer himself or herself.

Then, at step 1106, a customer identifying code is entered into the POSterminal. This may be done by interfacing a magnetic stripe card such asa shopper identification card to a card reader that is a peripheraldevice for the POS terminal. As an alternative it is contemplated thatthe customer identifying code may be entered by other techniques,including entering of alphanumeric data via a keypad that is part of thePOS terminal.

Because the customer undertaking the transaction is identified by theidentifying code, the central controller 102, which is in communicationwith the point of sale terminal in question, may be able to accesspurchasing history and other information relating to the customer bymeans of the customer database 224 and the transaction database 230.This information, in turn, may be used to determine which offers aremade available as possible outcomes of a random selection process to beundertaken in connection with the transaction. Consequently, the randomoutcome produced by the random selection process may depend in part onthe purchasing history or other information relating to the customer inthat the likelihood of occurrence of some or all of the possibleoutcomes may be determined on the basis of the purchasing history orother information. Such other information may include informationrelating to benefits that have previously been awarded to the customer.

At step 1108 product identifying codes are entered for the productsselected for purchase by the customer and brought for checkout to thePOS terminal and the codes are received by the POS terminal. It iscontemplated that the product identifiers may be entered by anyconventional technique, including scanning bar codes carried on theproducts.

After steps 1106 and 1108, or as one or both of those steps are beingperformed, a game display is presented (step 1110) via a display screenassociated with the POS terminal. The game display may take many forms,but in a preferred embodiment of the invention represents a virtual slotmachine with spinning “reels” of game indicia. In one embodiment of theinvention, at least some of the indicia are images that representproducts for which identifying codes are entered at step 1108. Thedisplay screen through which the game display is provided may becontrolled by the associated POS terminal or by the central controller.

At step 1112 an outcome is determined from among a number of possibleoutcomes. The outcome is selected by a random or pseudo-random processfrom among a number of possible outcomes and in accordance withpredetermined probabilities or likelihoods of the possible outcomes. Forexample, if a certain possible outcome has a likelihood of occurrence of10%, the random process operates such that there is a 10% chance thatthe certain possible outcome will be the result of the random process.The types of outcomes and their likelihood of occurrence are determinedby reference to the outcome database 226.

To give some examples of rules that may be applied, one rule may holdthat products costing more than $2.00 are not eligible to be awardedfree of charge unless the total transaction price exceeds $50.00.Another rule that may be applied would hold that the likelihood ofawarding a product free of charge is 1% for transaction totals of lessthan $10.00, 2% for transaction totals between $10.00 and $50.00, and 3%for transaction totals greater than $50.00. If the latter rule isapplicable, and the transaction consists of five items and totals lessthan $10.00, the respective likelihood of each particular product beingawarded free of charge may be the same for every product, i.e. 0.002.Alternatively, the likelihood of a particular product being awarded freemay be inversely proportional to the price of the product, such that aproduct that costs half as much as another product would be twice aslikely to be awarded free.

The likelihood of awarding a 50% discount on a given product may beadjusted according to similar rules.

Other rules may cause the likelihood of particular types of outcomes tobe varied depending on factors such as the identity of the customer(e.g., whether the customer is a new customer or a preferred customer)or the availability of inventory to support awarding of a particularproduct. This information may be tracked, for example via an inventorydatabase.

The random process may be constrained so that no more than one benefit,such as no more than one free product, may be awarded. Alternatively,more than one benefit may be awarded. There may be established a certainlikelihood that all the products selected for the transaction may beawarded free of charge. There may also be another benefit having acertain likelihood of occurrence, such as a large cash prize or a freecar. From the point of view of the merchant it may be desirable that anypossible large prize have a small likelihood of occurrence so that theper transaction cost of the program is low. The likelihood that one ofthe more desirable benefits awarded may be adjusted depending onprevious benefits that have been awarded to the customer. For example,it may be made less likely that the customer will be awarded a largeprize or a free product if the customer has recently won a similarprize.

Once the type of outcome has been determined, it may then be necessaryto select a particular outcome of the determined outcome. For example,if a free product is to be awarded, certain rules may be applied toselect one of the products chosen for purchase by the customers.Instances of such rules have been mentioned above, and may includepurely random selection of one of the products, or random selection withthe likelihood of selection inversely proportional to the cost of theitem. Similar approaches may be taken to selecting a product for a 50%discount, if that type of outcome is determined.

If the type of outcome is determined to be an award of an upsell or acoupon, rules may be applied to select a particular upsell or coupon tobe awarded. Such rules may be stored in suitable databases, such as anupsell outcome database or a coupon upsell database.

The rules that may be prescribed by potential sponsors of such offers,and may depend on whether sponsors have paid to sponsor such offers. Therelative likelihood that a particular upsell or coupon may be awardedmay depend on the relative amounts that sponsors have paid. For example,if sponsor A has paid twice as large a sponsorship fee as sponsor B,then it may be twice as likely that sponsor A's coupons will be awardedas sponsor B's.

Whether an upsell offer is included as a possible outcome or not maydepend upon availability of a product to be proposed as an additionalitem in the transaction pursuant to the upsell offer. In addition, oralternatively, the availability of an upsell offer as a possible outcomemay depend on whether the products proposed to be added to thetransaction are due to “expire” shortly. As will be appreciated by thosewho are skilled in the art, many products have limited shelf lives.Among these are many types of groceries, as well as periodicals such asmagazines that are due to be replaced by new editions as of a givendate. Inclusion of an upsell as a possible outcome may also depend on anamount of change that would be provided in connection with a transactionin the absence of an upsell. For example, if the transaction totalresults in $0.50 due, a product that costs $0.50 or a modest amount morethan $0.50 may be offered as an upsell. Techniques for implementingso-called “spare change upsells” are disclosed in commonly-assignedpatent application Ser. No. 08/920,116, filed Aug. 26, 1997, andentitled “Method and System for Processing Supplementary Product Salesat a Point-of-Sale Terminal”.

Performance of steps 1110 and 1112 may also be contingent on variouscircumstances. For example, the game presentation and the randomdetermination of a possible benefit may only be provided to customerswho purchase more than a certain number of products. As anotheralternative, the game presentation and the random determination may onlybe provided for customers whose purchases total more than a certainamount of money. As still another alternative, the game presentation andthe random determination of a benefit may only be provided for customerswho purchase certain products or certain quantities of certain products.

Moreover, the provision of these features may be dependent on the timeof day, day of the week, day of the month, etc. In one embodiment, steps1110 and 1112 are only included in the process of FIG. 11 at times ofthe day when traffic is normally rather light in the store, so as toavoid delays at the POS terminal during times of peak usage of thestore.

Still further, the steps 1110 and 1112 may only be provided to certaincustomers, such as those who have a history of spending a certain amountor visiting the store with a certain degree of frequency; i.e., thesesteps may only be provided for preferred customers. As still anotherpossibility, these steps may be provided only for customers who haveindicated in a customer profile that they wish to have these stepsprovided. It is also possible that steps 1110 and 1112 may only beprovided to customers who have customer identification cards.Alternatively, steps 1110 and 1112 may be provided both to customers whohave customer identification cards and to those who lack customeridentification cards. In the latter case, step 1106 may be omitted.

It is also contemplated that customers may be charged money for theprivilege of receiving steps 1110 and 1112. In such a case compliancewith gambling regulations may be required. It may also be necessary toprovide alternate forms of entry for the random processes disclosedherein.

As yet another alternative, only certain customers who purchase certainproducts may be provided with steps 1110 and 1112.

At step 1114 the outcome determined at step 1112 is presented to thecustomer. For example, if it has been determined that one of theproducts selected for purchase by the customer is to be awarded free ofcharge to the customer, then a display like that shown in FIG. 12 may bepresented to the customer at the display device associated with the POSterminal. It will be seen that in the display of FIG. 12 three images ofa product (“Can o'Corn”) are horizontally aligned to represent identicalindicia on slot machine reels lining up to indicate a winning outcome.This is in accordance with the virtual slot machine interface referredto above. A similar display may be provided, with images of a couponreplacing the images of the product, if the random process results in acoupon being selected as a benefit to be awarded to the customer.Similarly, three symbols representing an upsell offer may replace theproduct images 1202 if it is determined that an upsell offer is to beprovided to the customer. If the random process results in a 50%discount being awarded on a product, then one of the three productimages shown in FIG. 12 may be replaced with a different symbol and thelegend shown at 1204 may be replaced with the legend such as “50% offthe Can o'Corn”. If no benefit is to be awarded as a result of therandom process, the display may show three different symbolshorizontally aligned, to simulate a losing outcome on a slot machine. Inthe latter case, the display may include a legend such as “Sorry, noprize this time.”

The spinning of the virtual reels may stop at a timing controlled by thesystem, or in response to the customer pressing a button. In the lattercase, it is preferable that the timing at which the customer presses thebutton have no effect on the outcome determined by the system.

If a coupon is awarded as a result of the random process, the coupon maybe printed out at the POS terminal via a coupon printer interfaced tothe POS terminal. Alternatively, the coupon may be a virtual coupon thatwill be automatically redeemed if the customer purchases the productcovered by the coupon during a subsequent visit to the store. Immediateredemption of the coupon or virtual coupon is also contemplated.

It is contemplated to employ game presentations other than a virtualslot machine reel in connection with the invention. Such other gamepresentations may include a virtual car race in which an image carriedon the “winning car” indicates the outcome of the random process. Forsuch a game presentation it is also contemplated to provide a userinterface to the customer to enable the customer to control one of thecars in the car race. However, the result of the race may still becontrolled by the central controller and/or the POS terminal such thatthe system operates a car or cars more successfully than the customer tocontrol the outcome of the car race.

Another possible game presentation would be a basketball free throwcompetition in which animated characters compete to throw a basketballinto a hoop. The characters may wear images that correspond to variouspossible outcomes, with the outcome determined by the random processbeing reflected by the image worn by the successful competitor among theanimated characters.

An animated horseshoe competition is another possible game presentation.

In addition, other representations may be used, including animatedcharacters who answer trivia questions, three virtual doors presentedfor selection by the customer, or a spinning wheel like a roulette wheelor a vertically-oriented wheel with prices around the circumference.

Other entertainment interfaces of the types described in theabove-referenced application Ser. No. 09/538,773 may also be used.

The present invention also contemplates omitting the game presentationand presenting the outcome of a random process to the customer by meansof text output. The text output may be displayed or may be printed outby, for example, a receipt printer.

At step 1116 the transaction is completed. Thus, for example, atransaction total is calculated, based on any benefit such as a freeproduct or product discount that resulted from step 1112, or taking intoaccount any upsell offer accepted by the customer. The customer pays forthe transaction, by cash, check or credit card, and a suitable receiptis printed.

With the system of the present invention, retailers can make theshopping experience, and particularly time spent at the POS terminal,more entertaining and enjoyable for customers. As a result, an increasednumber of customers may be attracted to stores in which the presentinvention is applied.

In addition, because the game presentation and/or the presentation ofresults of a prize drawing tends to attract customers' attention to thedisplay of the POS terminal, it may be desirable to inject advertisingcontent into the display of the POS terminal, to generate advertisingrevenue for the proprietor of the store and/or the proprietor of thesystem. The system of the invention also may be a vehicle for presentingcoupons and other promotions to customers. The advertising content may,but need not, be related to products that are promoted through the gamepresentation and the coupons or other promotional offers made availablethrough the system of the invention.

According to other embodiments of the invention, it is contemplated toprovide game presentations, and report results of random processes thatmay involve awarding a benefit to a customer, via terminals that are notPOS terminals. For example, such terminals may be the shelf terminals106 referred to in connection with FIG. 1 and located at store shelveson which products are presented for selection by customers. Theterminals 106 may be similar to POS terminals, but may lack structurefor receiving and storing currency and also may lack facilities forcashier entry of data, receipt printing or processing credit cards.

Alternatively, one or more of the shelf terminals 106 may be implementedas a portable computing device such as a personal digital assistant(PDA) carried by the customer and in wireless data communication withthe central controller 102.

FIG. 13 shows a flow chart 1300 that illustrates a process carried outin accordance with the invention via shelf terminals 106.

At step 1302 in FIG. 13 the customer enters a customer identifying codeat the shelf terminal and the code is received by the shelf terminal. Asin step 1106, this may be done by swiping a shopper identification cardhaving a magnetic stripe through a magnetic card reader, if such areader is provided as part of the shelf terminal. Alternatively, thecustomer identifier may be entered through a conventional manual entrydevice such as a keypad or a touch screen.

At step 1304 the customer indicates an interest in purchasing a product.This may be done by using a bar code scanner, if available, to scan abar code carried on a product that the customer wishes to select forpurchase. Alternatively, a product identifying code may be entered via atouch screen or key pad. It is also contemplated that a touch screen atthe shelf terminal may include icons or text strings that identify theproducts at the shelf and that may be actuated by the customer.

Decision block 1306 represents a determination as to whether thecustomer has indicated that he or she has completed his or her selectionof products for purchase. If the customer has not so indicated, then heor she may enter additional product identifiers at the shelf terminaland/or he or she may proceed on to one or more other shelf terminals atwhich the customer's identifier and additional product identifiers maybe entered.

Once the customer has indicated selection of the last product, steps1308, 1310 and 1312 follow. These may be, for example, substantially thesame as the steps 1110, 1112 and 1114 described in connection with FIG.11. It is accordingly not necessary to describe steps 1308-1312 indetail. It should be noted that the game presentation step 1308 may bestarted prior to the customer completing the selection of products forpurchase.

It is particularly advantageous to perform step 1312 at the shelfterminal 106 in connection with upsell offers, since in some situationsit may be more convenient for the customer to find and collect a productoffered pursuant to an upsell before the customer has proceeded to thePOS terminal.

After steps 1308-1312, the customer proceeds to the POS terminal withthe products that he or she has selected for purchase (step 1314). Thenthe transaction is completed (step 1316), which may occur in the samemanner as was discussed in connection with step 1116 (FIG. 11). It willbe understood that the results of steps 1308-1312 may have beencommunicated via the system to the POS terminal to aid in the checkouttransaction at the POS terminal and to permit any award to be redeemedat the POS terminal. Results of steps 1308-1312 and any award may alsobe printed out at the shelf terminal and the resulting printed recordpresented at the POS terminal for processing and redemption of theaward.

One advantage of the method of FIG. 13 is that the system may keep trackof items that are usually purchased by the customer, and may provide adisplay to the customer to remind the customer of items that he or shecustomarily purchases but which have not been included in the processrepresented by the loop of steps 1302-1306. Alternatively, the systemmay simply analyze the set of products entered by the customer torecommend additional products that would be complementary to those thatthe customer has indicated an intention of purchasing.

Another advantage of the method of FIG. 13 is that the customer hasentered product identifiers into the system prior to reaching the POSterminal, so that the transaction at the POS terminal itself may beexpedited, thereby saving labor costs for the proprietor of the store.

Moreover, like the embodiment of FIG. 11, the embodiment of FIG. 13helps to make the shopping experience entertaining for customers,thereby serving to attract customers to the store.

It has been noted above that game presentation may be omitted and theoutcome of a random process may be presented to the customer by othermeans, such as by printed output. Thus the aspects of the presentinvention relating to awarding free of charge a product selected forpurchase may be embodied without embodying the aspects of the inventionrelated to displaying images of products. Furthermore, the aspects ofthe invention relating to awarding of free products may be omitted froman embodiment in which images of products are displayed. The productimages may be displayed in a game presentation or otherwise.

In the examples provided above, random processes to determine whether abenefit is to be awarded are performed on a transaction-by-transactionbasis, such that a plurality of products selected by the customer areeligible to be awarded free of charge. Alternatively, a random processto determine whether a benefit is to be awarded may be performed eachtime the customer selects a product for purchase. For example, a randomprocess may be carried out on each occasion when a product code isentered into a POS terminal or a shelf terminal, and a game interfacesuch as a virtual slot machine interface may be provided to indicate theoutcome of the random process.

The exemplary embodiments described above indicate that the presentinvention may be applied in a supermarket. It is also contemplated toapply the present invention in other types of stores, including hardwarestores and home centers, clothing stores, drug stores, departmentstores, fast food restaurants, bars and vending machines.

In one embodiment of the invention as applied to a fast food restaurant,a drive-through ordering terminal includes a display screen thatdisplays images of products as they are ordered. Similarly, in arestaurant with sit-down service, images of items ordered may bedisplayed by using digital menus or via screens installed at tables.

Although the present invention has been described with respect topreferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will note thatvarious substitutions, modifications and variations may be made withrespect to the embodiments described herein without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: entering a plurality ofproduct identifiers, each corresponding to a respective product selectedfor purchase by a customer; generating a random outcome to determinewhether the customer wins one of the selected products; and determiningwhich one of the selected products is won.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the product identifiers are entered by scanning bar codes on theproducts.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting therandom outcome to the customer.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein therandom outcome is displayed to the customer.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the random outcome is displayed in an entertainment interface.6. The method of claim 5, wherein the entertainment interface includesan image of at least one of the products corresponding to the enteredproduct identifiers.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:entering a customer identifier for identifying the customer.
 8. Themethod of claim 7 wherein the customer identifier is entered by swipinga magnetic stripe card through a card reader.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising: displaying an image that represents at least one ofthe products that correspond to the entered product identifiers.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the random outcome is generated by a servercomputer that communicates the random outcome to the POS terminal.
 11. Amethod comprising: entering, into a terminal at a shelf, at least oneproduct identifier that corresponds to a respective product selected forpurchase; and generating a random outcome to determine whether thecustomer wins a product that corresponds to the at least one productidentifier.
 12. A method comprising: receiving a plurality of productidentifiers, each corresponding to a respective product selected forpurchase by a customer; generating a random outcome to determine whetherthe customer wins one of the selected products; and determining whichone of the selected products is won.
 13. A method comprising: receivingat a shelf at least one product identifier that corresponds to arespective product selected for purchase; and generating a randomoutcome to determine whether the customer wins a product thatcorresponds to the at least one product identifier.
 14. A systemcomprising: means for entering a plurality of product identifiers, eachcorresponding to a respective product selected for purchase by acustomer; means for generating a random outcome to determine whether thecustomer wins one of the selected products; and means for determiningwhich one of the plurality of selected products is won.
 15. A systemcomprising: means, located at a shelf, for entering at least one productidentifier that corresponds to a respective product selected forpurchase; and means for generating a random outcome to determine whetherthe customer wins a product that corresponds to the at least one productidentifier.